How close was I?

Set a Waypoints to fly around the school. I thought 125' was more that sufficient. Then I watched the video and...wow! It was flat terrain from my apt. to the school. I can't believe the trees around here are over 125', but watch this snippet. I think I dodged a bullet!

Have you checked google earth for any elevation change between your take off point and the school? You can often have a slight incline that you don't even notice end up being a change of 50-75 feet. Also, your altitude readings are subject to some error, sometimes 30-50 feet or more. Its easy to see that if these all add up to your detriment..well, you can get a situation like you just ran into. I like to all an extra 100 feet or so on a first flight in an unknown area, look at the video, and then decide if I can fly it again a bit lower. Good luck on your future flights! You did get lucky this time, but I'm sure you learned from it. I'm sure there are lots of other folks that are not so lucky!

Have you checked google earth for any elevation change between your take off point and the school? You can often have a slight incline that you don't even notice end up being a change of 50-75 feet. Also, your altitude readings are subject to some error, sometimes 30-50 feet or more. Its easy to see that if these all add up to your detriment..well, you can get a situation like you just ran into. I like to all an extra 100 feet or so on a first flight in an unknown area, look at the video, and then decide if I can fly it again a bit lower. Good luck on your future flights! You did get lucky this time, but I'm sure you learned from it. I'm sure there are lots of other folks that are not so lucky!

ALWAYS check your elevations and take into account trees, buildings, poles, etc. 125 ft is awfully low for what you were doing anyway. And remember that 125 ft is your altitude above the takeoff point, NOT AGL (Above Ground Level). That's why it looks lower. It WAS lower.